Percol launches UK’s first ‘plastic-free’ coffee packaging

UK retail coffee brand Percol today announces it is the first coffee brand to receive the official Plastic Free Trust Mark from A Plastic Planet (APP).

Introducing the world’s first fully home-compostable packaging for coffee, Percol’s new range of ground and beans is available exclusively in Waitrose stores nationwide from November 2018.

This news marks a move away from the 100 million plastic packs produced and used within the UK coffee industry each year. Unable to be recycled, they either get incinerated, or end up in landfill and natural ecosystems for hundreds of years. The home-compostable option – as championed by Percol’s new range – is made from renewable resources such as plant fibres and eucalyptus wood pulp. It enables consumers to throw the packaging away with their food scraps, and – once broken down – use it as a soil improver. The certified home-compostable packs, when put in local council food waste bins, break down within 12 weeks through industrial composting, or within 26 weeks when home composted.

This trailblazing investment from Percol marks the first step of its rebrand strategy – ‘Coffee on a Mission’. This is the company’s biggest rebrand in its 30 year history, returning to its pioneering roots to lead the sustainable coffee conversation once again. The Mission is a commitment towards a better future for coffee farmers, the planet and coffee drinkers.

David Brooks, managing director, Percol, says: “For most of us, a decent cup of coffee is a daily must. And while the modern consumer is always looking for great taste, they’re also caring more and more about the sustainability of each cup.

The takeaway coffee market has been stormed by the reusable cup, but how is the coffee industry responding to an ever increasing drive to be sustainable, not only in coffee shops but also in consumers’ kitchens? Today’s announcement is the first step towards our aspiration to make all our products plastic-free – using only sustainable materials – by the end of 2019.”

Percol has sought to stay ahead of the curve in sustainable business since the day it set up shop. Back in 1987, it was the first ground coffee to bear the Fairtrade Mark. It pioneered the use of organic and single-origin beans, and has spent decades investing in the coffee growers at source, generation after generation. This core value of ethically-produced coffee continues today, not only via increased support for Fairtrade, with all six flavours of Percol’s new ground and beans range 100% Fairtrade Certified, but also by significantly increasing the number of Organic Certified products. The business is also Carbon Neutral Certified, meaning it offsets its emissions at every stage of its supply chain – from farm, to factory, to shelf.